Description
Book SynopsisThis book places the slave in the center of the history not simply as a type of labor, but as an actor whose culture, actions and decisions influenced the operation of the system. It is written with verve and grace for a general readership.
Trade ReviewThis book was published originally in French in 1979 and in Portuguese in 1982. Written without scholarly footnotes for a general readership, it is a deceptively simple book direct in its presentation, lacking a specialized jargon, and organized in an imaginative and interesting way. But it also is a volume that reflects some of the most recent and innovative research on the question of slavery. Putting aside the somewhat arid debate over the feudal or capitalist nature of the "slave mode of production" and the political aspects of the movement for abolition,
To Be a Slave in Brazil presents an overview of Brazilian slavery which reflects the trend toward study of the slave community, religion, the family, and other features of the internal aspects of slavery. -- Stuart B. Schwartz * from the foreword *
This book was published originally in French in 1979 and in Portuguese in 1982. Written without scholarly footnotes for a general readership, it is a deceptively simple book direct in its presentation, lacking a specialized jargon, and organized in an imaginative and interesting way. But it also is a volume that reflects some of the most recent and innovative research on the question of slavery. Putting aside the somewhat arid debate over the feudal or capitalist nature of the "slave mode of production" and the political aspects of the movement for abolition,
To Be a Slave in Brazil presents an overview of Brazilian slavery which reflects the trend toward study of the slave community, religion, the family, and other features of the internal aspects of slavery. -- Stuart B. Schwartz * from the foreword *
Table of ContentsForeword by Stuart Schwartz
Preface to the English Edition
Introduction
PART 1: TO BE SOLD INTO SLAVERY
1. To Be Sold into Slavery in Africa
2. In Brazil: Merchandise like Any Other
3. To Be Valuable Merchandise
PART 2: BEING A SLAVE
4. The African Adapts to Brazil and the Brazilians
5. Solidarities
6. Refuges and Refusals
PART 3: THE END OF SLAVERY?
7. The Charter of Freedom
8. The Mirage of Freedom
9. The Manumitted Slave as Social Intermediary
Appendices:
Will of Francisco Nunes de Moraes
Glossary
Currency Tables
Bibliographies
Index
